The WEF Student Design Competition promotes real-world design experience for students interested in pursuing education and careers in water and wastewater engineering and science. As a program of WEF’s Students & Young Professionals Committee (SYPC), the competition tasks individuals or teams of students to prepare and present a design that helps solve a water quality issue.
The competition begins at the Member Association (MA) level. Each MA is encouraged to develop their own Student Design Competition based on a chosen design problem or allow student teams to bring problems they are currently working on. The competition concludes each year at WEFTEC.
About the Competition
The competition hosts three different categories at WEFTEC:
- Wastewater Design: The Wastewater Design Competition is intended to include design projects that traditionally address a challenge within a water resource recovery facility, e.g., hydraulic capacity design, upgrades to existing treatment systems, biosolids handling, etc.
- Water Environment Design: The Environmental Design Competition is intended to include design projects that address challenges within the broader water environment, e.g., water reuse, stormwater management, wetland construction, etc.
- Circular Water Economy: The Circular Water Economy Design Competition is intended to include design projects that focus on reducing waste, recovering nutrients and energy, and regenerating nature within the water cycle.
Both the Wastewater and Water Environment Design Competitions follow the same guidelines and scoring system.
There are many benefits to participating in the WEF Student Design Competition. At the competition, participants will have the opportunity to:
- Network with students and industry leaders from across the world.
- Gain professional experience and exposure.
- Highlight their skills and enthusiasm for the water environment.
- Participate in WEFTEC activities tailored to students and young professionals.
Questions about the Student Design Competition?
Cara Hall
Design Competition Subcommittee Co-Chair
cara.hall@tkda.com
Jada Williams
Design Competition Subcommittee Co-Chair
WilliamsJ6@bv.com
Alison Hayden
Coordinator, Workforce Development
ahayden@wef.org
WEF Student Design Competition Resources
Whether you are looking to start a Student Design Competition or have been invited to attend the National Student Design Competition at WEFTEC, the resources on this page will help answer many of your questions about the competition.
- Design Competition Guidelines (as of April 2026)
- Circular Water Economy Memo
2025 First Place Papers
- North Carolina State University (Wastewater)
- University of British Columbia (Water Environment)
- University of South Florida (Circular Water Economy)
Past Winners
Congratulations to past winners of the WEF Student Design Competition!
| Year | Wastewater Design | Water Environment Design | Circular Water Economy |
| 2025 | North Carolina State University | University of British Columbia | University of South Florida |
| 2024 | North Carolina State University | University of Florida | NA |
| 2023 | Texas Tech University | Georgia Institute of Technology | NA |
| 2022 | The University of Texas, Austin | University of Waterloo | NA |
| 2021 | Clemson University | California State Polytechnic University | NA |
| 2020 | Colorado School of Mines | University of Guelph | NA |
| 2019 | University of Colorado, Boulder | University of British Columbia | NA |
| 2018 | University of Colorado, Boulder | University of British Columbia | NA |
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